As if Toronto’s transit planning, with its many hirings, firings and re-hirings, wasn’t slow enough, Tim Hudak tried to throw more sand in the gears yesterday.The urban planning expert Progressive Conservative leader moved for the province to force through Rob Ford’s pet subway project and axe the council-backed light-rail plan. (A hypocritical move, Dalton McGuinty pointed out, considering Hudak was part of the PC government that killed the Eglinton West subway back in 1995.) Hudak’s arguments in favour of subways sounded familiar enough to make us wonder if he’s joining Ford in some early campaigning. If that’s the case, even the motion’s quick defeat doesn’t matter much: according to the Ford handbook, what supporters think you’re trying to do counts more than what you actually accomplish. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

Speaking as a conservative, I agree that the province should seize control of city governments if the decisions made by city council are incorrect. Since the funding was provided by the province to build the long-awaited Transit City plan, and us conservatives have been arguing for a more expensive, less expansive plan written on the back of a napkin, the province has every right to override the decisions made by City Council and replace all those NDP communist councillors with high-fructose drink dispensers.

You’re not speaking as a conservative, you’re speaking as an idiot… Oh wait, so you are speaking as a conservative! The province has no right at all to seize anything against the will of the council that represents the people of the city. You Cons like to toss around the term communist. Actively forcing a city to work against its council and citizens is possibly one of the most undemocratic things you could do. Acting like dictators is not the way forward. Harper can do it now, but not for long. So what if the money came from the province? Hudak lives in Niagara! What the hell does he know about Toronto or transit? Absolutely nothing. He’s just a badly finished puppet that can’t form an independent thought to save his life. McGuinty is right to abide by the decisions of city council.

Christ..the way WHODAT is talking is quite disrespectful of the city and Council. OK… so we have a retard mayor and a dysfunctiopnal & divided council but its no way for the Province under WHODAT to be talking this way – you wonder why he lost the election and will never be premier?! IF the province took over the TTC and fund it 100% and bring a new & fresh view to the TTC, it may work but at what cost ? to increase the huge $16bil deficit ? How ? I say, let the federal government take it over and let Harper foot the bill after saving all that money from the F35 and prisons!

Please Hudak, I am begging you, please introduce that piece of legislation at Queen’s Park. I really feel your chances are strong. Sure you’re from Niagara & you supported the sandbagging of the Eglinton subway the first time, but why wouldn’t the collection of entirely of non-PC ridings known as the city of Toronto listen to you when it comes to transit in a city you don’t live in that is represented by the two provincial parties you are not a part of? I’m sure every MPP in this city will cross the aisle to support you!

We all want Subways, don’t we? So lets build them for everyone who wants them? Who doesn’t want Subways? Let’s start with Tim Hudak’s riding, Niagara West – Glanbrook? Wouldn’t they want a Subway? In fact, let’s build a Subway in the whole Niagara peninsula! We could even put a Subway from St. Catherines to Fort Erie. Just make sure it does not go to the surface, or it might upset Tim Hudak (or Rob Ford when he visits Niagara Falls). It could even go under the vineyards and flowerbeds, don’t want to disturb the scenery. Who cares that a Subway is not needed where the riders will make the operation cost inefficient. Just build it because everyone wants it in their neighbourhood, ignoring the operation costs.

Sorry, Tim. Just because we all want Subways, does not make it a logical choice. World-class cities are still building subways, but in their downtowns, going to the surface outside the downtown. Where they are building rapid transit outside the downtown, they turn to light rail as the logical choice.

Hudak has no credibility on this issue, since there wouldn’t BE an issue if Harris’ government (of which he was a part) didn’t sandbag the Eglinton Subway and stump the Sheppard line 20 years ago.

It’s quite rich hearing him now advocating subway building in Toronto 20 years later, when it will be vastly more expensive that it would have been in 1995, but then refusing to offer up additional funds to pay for all these new subways he wants us to build. Funny – that’s the kind of “spending money you don’t have” thinking that he and his party have been railing on McGuinty over.

But then that’s Hudak – no opinions of his own, and taking his political cues from the Ford brothers. Funny how well that worked out for him during the provincial election eh?